We have two unique products that are ground breaking in various cancer treatment

DOS47

Tumor defence breaker

DOS47 is a patented oncology platform technology that offers a new and potentially revolutionary approach to the debilitation and destruction of cancer cells.

DOS47 is a patented oncology platform technology that offers a new and potentially revolutionary approach to the debilitation and destruction of cancer cells. DOS47 is designed to offer a means of deriving a therapeutic pharmacological effect by acting upon a naturally occurring substance in the body. The technology is based on the principle of using an enzyme to catalyse the metabolism (catabolism) of an endogenous substrate molecule in order to yield metabolites of therapeutic benefit.

Helix conceived of DOS47 in pursuit of a way to modify the microenvironmental conditions inherent to cancer cells. Specifically, cancer cells generally share a common trait: they exist and propagate under conditions of abnormally low interstitial pH (i.e. high acidity). DOS47 is designed to induce an increase in pH locally at the site of cancerous cells in the body to create an environment inhospitable to their continued growth and survival.

DOS47 is based on the effect of an enzyme called urease acting upon the substrate compound urea. Urea is a substance that is naturally present in the human body. By inducing the catabolism of urea in the body in the interstitial medium surrounding cancer cells, urease action is believed to promote the production of metabolites including ammonia and hydroxide ions. These metabolites are believed to stress cancer cells by a combination of effects including the induction of an alkaline microenvironment and by direct toxic effects.

Helix believes that DOS47 may have applications both as a monotherapy and in certain combined adjunct chemotherapy regimens. Helix’s granted U.S. patents provide protection for both of these possible therapeutic applications. Helix envisions applying its DOS47 technology to multiple different solid tumor types, by combining it with cancer-specific targeting agents able to localize potent DOS47 therapy to any given tumor target in the body. Helix’s first DOS47-based targeted therapeutic under development, L-DOS47 , is a potential treatment for inoperable, locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Helix continues to explore opportunities to expand upon its product pipeline with new DOS47-based therapeutics, pending the identification of further tumor targeting agents like the lung adenocarcinoma antibody component of L-DOS47.

Helix’s Research Findings Published in the Journal of Experimental Therapeutics and Oncology [pdf]

Helix’s Research Presentation at BIT’s 5th Annual International Congress of Antibiodies 2013[pdf]

Helix’s Research Presentation at American Association for Cancer Research Annual Conference 2013[pdf]

Car-T

Tumor attack agent

Treatment and prevention of cancer based on its proprietary technologies.

The Company is leveraging its know-how in manipulating the tumour microenvironment, and its expertise in developing unique single domain antibody therapeutics to develop Chimeric Antigen Receptors (“CAR”) for engineered T cell based treatment (“CAR-T”). CAR-T is a novel cell based treatment that uniquely leverages the patient’s immune system to treat cancer. In one application, the patient’s T cells are isolated and then transformed with specific CAR that recognize the cancer. The transformed T cells or CAR-Ts are infused back into the patient to effect the treatment.

Currently, a number of companies including large pharmaceutical companies are developing CAR-T based therapies for blood based and solid tumours. Although this approach, called adoptive cell transfer (“ACT”), has been restricted to small clinical trials so far, treatments using these engineered immune cells have generated some promising responses in patients with advanced cancer.

Helix intends to develop CARs for ACT for solid and hematological malignancies. The Company has selected CEACAM6 and VEGFR2 specific CARs for solid tumour. For hematological malignancies, the Company has selected CD19 and CD22.